Florida’s ‘Swamp’ Lands at 9th Best College Stadium, Falls in SEC Rankings
A fresh USA TODAY Sports list puts Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at ninth among top college football venues. The field trails Alabama's Bryant-Denny but ranks just above Texas A&M's Kyle Field.
"As former coach Steve Spurrier aptly said, 'Only Gators get out alive' from The Swamp," pointed out writers Paul Myerberg and Blake Toppmeyer per USA TODAY Sports.
The ranking marks a shift for the Florida site. While it claims the ninth spot overall, it now sits fifth among SEC fields: a drop from when writer Blake Toppmeyer named it the conference's best just weeks back.
Stats tell the tale of home-field might. The Gators win 71.4% at home against SEC rivals over ten years. Away games paint a different picture, with wins in just 47.6% of conference matchups.
LSU's Tiger Stadium tops the national list. Penn State's Beaver Stadium and Ohio State's grounds follow at second and third. Four SEC sites outrank the Swamp: LSU's field, Tennessee's Neyland, Georgia's Sanford, and Alabama's Bryant-Denny.
More SEC sites fill out spots below Florida. Texas A&M sits tenth, Auburn's field takes 13th, while South Carolina's grounds claim spot 17.
A May report by 247Sports matched USA TODAY's view, also putting the Swamp at number nine.
The list spans both U.S. coasts. Oregon's Autzen Stadium leads Western sites at fourth place. The storied Notre Dame Stadium ranks 14th.
Three nearby states made the cut. Clemson's field in South Carolina ranks fifth, with FSU's Doak Campbell at spot 20.
